PrintCucumber, Chicken, and More from Grand Sichuan
After reading Kathryn Yu's laundry list of recommended dishes on my last entry about Grand Sichuan, we made plans to go back the next week and do things right. And by "do things right" I mean "order loads of food." Unexpectedly, my favorite dish ended up being vegetarian and mostly raw.
Cold cucumber and scallion sauce, where have you been all my life? It's no wonder that so many people recommended this plate of raw cucumber nubs doused in frighteningly vibrant green scallion sauce to me—it's full of addictive, fresh, crunchy goodness. But I wasn't drawn to it for its heat-quelling properties; I would happily eat the cucumber with a bowl of rice, mostly because of the crack-like addictive qualities of the oil and scallion-based sauce. The magical sauce.
You think I'm kidding? After all the cucumber nubs had disappeared into our bellies I poured the final green dregs into my bowl of rice, to the horror of my table mates. If someone can't give me a recipe for the sauce, I might just have to buy a bucket of it from the restaurant the next time I go there.
Of course, there was plenty of meat involved in our meal. Gui zhou spicy chicken provided the sharply spicy poultry.
Smoked tea duck provided the non-spicy, fat-laden poultry.
And fried beef with cumin provided the thin, crispy beef strips infused with cumin. Lots of cumin.
Still, the most memorable part for me was the cucumber because of its deliciousness and the funny looks my friends gave me for being thisclose to licking its serving dish.
Grand Sichuan
23 Saint Marks Place, New York, NY 10003 (b/n 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue; map)
212-529-4800
Multiple locations listed at thegrandsichuan.com
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10 Comments:
The Grand Sichuan in Chelsea has a cold asparagus dish in that same scallion oil that I adore. Man, it's pungent...but so good.
Michele Humes at 2:14PM on 02/25/09
Next time, try the soup dumplings. They are so good and you don't have to go all the way down to Chinatown or out to Flushing. I'm a fan.
masha339 at 2:49PM on 02/25/09
@Michele: I saw that on the menu! Or rather, the lack of the cucumber version. Boo. I guess I should try the asparagus version though.
@masha339: Oo, we ate those too! Definitely worth getting, although not my favorite dish there. It seems like one of those things I always have to get...like dan dan noodles.
roboppy at 3:19PM on 02/25/09
Dan dan noodles and the cucumbers are on my must order list. Big fan of the cumin beef, but my favorite beef dish is the Braised Beef in Chili sauce. So good, tender and fiery.
ESNY1077 at 6:29PM on 02/25/09
My favorite part was you saying "I'm not very hungry" and then still eating plain rice with cucumber-scallion sauce after everyone else was done.
kathryn at 12:55PM on 02/26/09
still cant figure out if the Brooklyn Grand Sichuan is related and that link isn't working for me. Anyone?
secondbecky at 2:26PM on 02/26/09
@ESNY1077: Oo I'll have to try the braised beef next time.
@kathryn: Oh yes, that's what we call CLASSIC BOPPY BEHAVIOR.
@secondbecky: They don't list any locations in Brooklyn so I don't think it's related.
roboppy at 2:31PM on 02/26/09
How clever. The scallion sauce is traditionally served on perfectly poached and chilled small shrimp in authentic Szechuan restaurants. I've had this dish mild and have had it with tiny slender red hot pickled peppers and it's magnificent.
shaogo at 5:54PM on 02/26/09
Add wontons in red oil, ma po dofu, and loofah to the list of orgasmically amazing dishes from this chain. Any others?
travels4food at 10:06PM on 04/14/09
@travels4food: I'm a big fan of the spicy eggplant as well.
roboppy at 12:19AM on 04/15/09